Imayō shokunin zukushi uta-awase 今様職人尽歌合
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Commentary by Hinohara Kenji
Posted March 10, 2017
Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Published after Masayoshi’s death in the third month of 1824, Imayō shokunin zukushi uta-awase (Up-to-date artisans compared in verse) is a two-volume collection of kyōka, or “mad verse,” a type of comic tanka poetry. In the book’s original form the compositional structure of each opening shows a pair of artisans or workers on one side and two kyōka poems related to the professions facing them on the other, as well as a judgment on the merits and demerits of each verse in a manner that replicates a poetry competition (uta-awase 歌合). The Pulverer copy has the two volumes bound into one, and even though the introduction and the postscript are intact, all of the poems are missing. As a result, the figures of the craftsmen appear in one continuous sequence. An intact copy is housed in the National Institute of Japanese Literature (Kokubungaku Kenkyū Shiryōkan 国文学研究資料館) in Tokyo.

The compiler/editor of the first volume is Tetsunoya Ōkado and the judge is Shikatsube no Magao (Haikaikajō Magao 俳諧歌場真顔), while the editor of the second volume is Goryūen Ichinin and the judge is Ishikawa Masamochi (Rokujuen Meshimori 六樹園飯盛). The production of this work, a collaboration between Shikatsube no Magao and Ishikawa Masamochi, is significant because these two masters continued to disagree over the form of kyōka. [1] Stylistically the figures in this work retain some resemblance to those in Masayoshi’s iconic painting illustrating contemporary artisans, Kinsei shokunin zukushi ekotoba 近世職人尽絵詞(ca. 1806; Tokyo National Museum); however, here they are clearly stiffer in execution. The advertisement for this volume on the inside back cover records that the price of this book was 5 monme of silver (roughly 18.75g).

The professions in the two volumes are ordered as follows:

Volume 1: itinerant comic dancer; bird and pest-chasing performer; florist; used umbrella seller; zōri sandal maker; used bowl buyer; shishi lion dancer; rifle maker; comb maker; well digger; confectioner; potable water seller; news broadcaster; Echigo shishi performer; potter; bamboo seller; fishmonger; potted plant seller; metal wire seller; uchiwa fan seller; straw hat maker; wall painter; bird seller; flute seller; tailor; noodle maker; go board game maker; “boat” prostitute; stone carver; tobacconist; paper maker; net fishermen; scroll and screen maker; doll maker; insect merchant; and goldfish seller.

Volume 2: performing monkey trainer; mechanical doll master; itinerant noodle seller; egg merchant; shamisen player; blacksmith; dealer in servant placement; horse and livestock trader; optometrist; sign writer; paper recycler; nori seaweed maker; acrobat; rickshaw driver; geta repairer; tinker; news hawker; ointment peddler; braided ribbon merchant; basket weaver; grain mortar carver; bath bucket maker; hotpot handle salesman; cage maker; top spinner; drum seller; pottery wheel turner; woodworker; glass blower; tsuzura basket maker; tortoiseshell artisan; glue seller; masseuse; swordsman; and Shinto priest.

書名　　今様職人尽歌合
執筆者日野原健司

政美が文政７年（1824）３月に没した後に刊行された上下２巻からなる狂歌本。本来は、見開きの片側に職人の姿が２人ずつ描かれ、反対側には職人にちなんだ狂歌が２首とその優劣を判定する歌合の趣向となっている。上巻の撰者は銕廼屋大門、判者は鹿都部真顔（俳諧歌場真顔）、下巻の撰者は五柳園一人、判者は石川雅望（六樹園飯盛）である。狂歌のあり方をめぐって論争を続けていた鹿都部真顔と石川雅望が協同して制作していることに意義があるとの指摘がある。［1］プルヴェラー本の場合、上下２巻が１冊にまとめられ、また、序文と跋文は残るものの、文字のみが記された狂歌の頁が全て落丁している。そのため、職人たちの図が連続して掲載されるという構成となってしまっている。国文学研究資料館蔵本は落丁もなく、また画像もネット上に公開しているので、比較していただきたい。職人たちの姿は政美の代表作である肉筆画「近世職人尽絵詞」（文化３年[1806]頃制作、東京国立博物館蔵）に通じる画風であるが、やや硬さがあることは否めない。なお、裏表紙見返しに本書の広告があり、銀五匁で販売されていたことが分かる。

職人たちを順に列挙すれば以下の通り。上巻は、万歳、鳥追い、花売、古傘売、草履造、古椀買、獅子舞、鉄砲師、櫛挽、井戸堀、飴売、水売、事触れ、越後獅子、陶物師、樋竹売、魚売、植木売、針金売、団扇売、笠縫、壁塗、放鳥売、笛売、仕立物師、面打、盤目造、船饅頭、硯切、煙管師、紙梳、網打、経師、人形師、虫売、金魚売。下巻は、猿曳、からくり師、夜蕎麦売、卵売、三弦師、鋳物師、奉公人口入、博労、眼鏡売、看板書、紙屑買、海苔梳、軽業、車引、足駄歯入、鍋鋳掛、読売、膏薬売、真田紐売、簪売、篭目結、臼目立、桶造、鍋のつる売、張籠造、独楽廻し、太鼓売、ろくろ引、指物師、硝子吹、葛籠張、鼈甲師、姫糊売、按摩取、居合抜、神道者。

Selected readings:

Kano Hiroyuki狩野博幸, “Kuwagata Keisei ehon no kentō”「鍬形蕙斎絵本の検討」, MUSEUM 338 『MUSEUM』338号(May 1979), 18–28.

Nakada Katsunosuke仲田勝之助, Ehon no kenkyū『絵本の研究』(Tokyo: Yashio Shoten, 1950).

Copies in other collections:
Chiba City Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Diet Library, Tokyo
National Institute of Japanese Literature, Tokyo
Tokyo National Museum
Tōyō Bunko, Tokyo

[1] Kano 1979, pp. 18–28.

Imayō shokuninzukushi uta-awase